Today (Oct. 20) we remember Tom Petty on what would have been his 68th birthday. Other rocker birthdays include drummer Fred Coury of Cinderella (51), founding Foreigner member and keyboardist Alan Greenwood (67), and drummer Ric Lee of Ten Years After (73).
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers formed in 1976 out of Gainesville, Florida. The band had a number of hits over the years and continued to host sold-out shows up until Petty's death last year at the age of 66. He was found unconscious at his home and in full cardiac arrest on the early morning of Oct. 2, 2017. He was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California at 8:40pm that evening. Tom Petty sold over 80 million records worldwide throughout his career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty’s last studio album Hypnotic Eye was released in 2014 on Reprise Records and the album debuted at number on the Billboard 200 chart. A box set called An American Treasure was released last month while a new 2 cd collection called the The Best of Everything is due out Nov. 16.
I got to see Tom Petty many times over the years including shows at the Beacon Theater in NYC, Madison Square Garden, and at Mountain Jam 2017 (Hunter Mountain, NY). Always a great rock show. He is so missed by many including me. Crank up some Tom Petty tunes and remember this legend on his birthday today!
Photo credit Samir Hussein/Getty Images